01x01 - Episode 1

[bunniefuu]

I am Zhuge Yue.

Fourth son of the Zhuge clan of Great Yong.

Hereditary master of Qingshan Court.

I serve the Emperor of Yong
and purge his enemies.

Yan Xun, heir to the Marquis of Dingbei.

The Yan family guarded Yanbei.

Yet the Emperor of Yong feared them.

The entire clan was slaughtered.

We were once close friends.

But now, we are sworn enemies.

Young Master.

Yue Qi!

Sir, Miss Chu is here.

Zhuge Yue!

Xing Er.

Stand aside.

Zhuge Yue.

I have wronged you.

Yan Xun.

k*ll me first, then.

Zhuge Yue!

Zhuge Yue.

Zhuge Yue.

Xing Er.

I am here.

Go now.

No. If you want me to go,
then let's go together.

You protected me before.

Now,

it is my turn to protect you.

Zhuge Yue.

Zhuge Yue.

I will get you out of here.

Xing Er.

You... You surely can take me away.

Zhuge Yue.

Zhuge Yue!

Wake up.

Wake up. You promised me.

We were meant to leave together.

Zhuge Yue.

Do not leave me here alone.

No!

Chu.

Truth be told, I have never changed.

You simply never knew what I truly wanted.

Chu!

[Episode 1]

Great Yong, Biantang, Ximeng.

These three powers stand divided.

Biantang is prosperous,
content to keep to itself.

Ximeng is harsh and its people suffer.

Great Yong, with its harsh caste system,

and mighty armies, rises supreme.

Yanbei was once a vassal of Great Yong.

Yet its merit bred suspicion.

It thus became Great Yong's enemy.

In the end,
it broke away and stood on its own.

[Six years ago]
The noble sons of Great Yong

delight in watching sl*ves fight wild beasts.

And hunt sl*ves for sport.

The orphan, Chu Qiao,
was enslaved as a child.

She loathed Great Yong's
sl*ve-holding system,

and swore to end sl*very
and still the swords of w*r.

Keep up.

You will stay at Qingshan Court.

From now on, your name will be Xing Er.

I saw her rare gifts.

So I made her a spy.

Zhuge Yue.

That Xing Er in your court has some nerve.

I like that.

She is too bold.
She still needs strict discipline.

No need for that.
Just hand her over to me.

No.

Choose another servant instead.

I beat you every time.

Why are you never angry with me?

Because you are my only friend.

It is not Yanbei that seeks rebellion.

It is Your Majesty who wants Yanbei to rebel.

I know you are close to Yan Xun.

So I shall grant you this favour.

Yan Xun shall be spared.

As for whether he will truly live,

that depends on whether you can
see this matter through for me.

Upon Jiuyou Terrace,

the Emperor of Yong ordered Yan Xun,
a hostage prince,

to identify the severed heads of his kin.

Yan Xun watched his family
burned before his eyes.

His mother died a brutal death.

He was though plunged into endless torment.

Yan Xun!

Zhuge Yue.

What is it you are hiding from me?

Or is it...

guilt that keeps you distant?

His Majesty is set upon destroying Yanbei.

No one can change his mind.

Very well.

From this day on,
you are heir to Qingshan Court,

a promising subject of Great Yong.

As for Chu and myself,
one is the c*ptive son of a disgraced king,

the other, a female sl*ve of no consequence
from the Zhu family.

You need not visit us again.

Nor do we wish to see you.

Yan Xun.

Once, I saw you as a true friend.

That is why I spoke to His Majesty for you.

On the roll of those to be ex*cuted
from your family,

I struck out your name.

As for Xing Er, you must know already,

to me, she is no longer merely
a female sl*ve of Qingshan Court.

Chu has absolutely nothing to do
with you or your Qingshan Court.

Zhuge Yue.

From this day forth, you and I
are bound by no more affection,

only strangers passing by.

Yan Xun believed Qingshan Court
was the hand behind it all.

He cut ties with me, once and for all.

Xing Er rallied the Xiuli Army

to aid Yan Xun in his flight back to Yanbei.

Xing Er, come back with me.

Yan Xun will never succeed in rebellion.

Zhuge Yue, you once spared my life.

I am grateful to you.

But that does not mean
it erases what lies between us.

You are a lofty noble-born young master.

You do not care whether sl*ves live or die.

But they are human beings.

They are the family I hold dearest.

Back then, you shot Yan Xun.

Because of that,
we failed to escape the capital.

We suffered years of imprisonment
because of it.

Between us,
we were always on opposite sides.

There can never be any reconciliation.

Nor will that ever change.

Xing Er.

Do you truly trust Yan Xun

that he can give you everything you want?

I trust him.

This worldly justice, morality,
fairness and ideals you speak of

are not as simple as you imagine.

Zhuge Yue.

That is where you and I differ.

Why don't we make a wager?

Let us wager that one day, in this world,

good and evil will each meet their due.

And no one will be deemed high or low.

Yan Xun, are you ready?

Once this moment passes,
there will be no turning back for us.

End all of this.

Then we shall return to Yanbei.

I promised you
I'll restore peace to the world.

We'll avenge the souls of Yanbei!

They sought to carve out a vast new world

where all may live in peace,
with none high or low.

Yet Yan Xun's heart has long been
steeped in blood-soaked vengeance.

He used my feelings for Xing Er
to lure me to the frozen lake.

By the time Xing Er realised
what was happening,

it was already too late.

Yan Xun, k*ll me first, then.

Zhuge Yue, I have wronged you.

No.

[Three Months Later]

Miss Chu, you are awake.

[Su, A Maidservant of Yanbei]
And your fever has gone down.

Who are you?

And where am I?

Miss Chu, do you still not remember anything?

Miss Chu?

[Yanbei Military Camp]

This battle has dragged on,
on and off, for nearly three months.

Though Great Yong's forces
are inferior to those of Yanbei,

Yanbei's bitter cold,
its climate and supplies,

favour a long campaign more than ours do.

And the commanding general,
the Seventh Prince, Zhao Che,

is a hard man to break.

If he keeps dragging this out,
[General Shi Yan]

I fear General Huan and the Black Eagle Army
will not be able to hold out.

Zhao Che refuses to commit all his troops.

He means to drag this on
until our men are exhausted

and force us to withdraw.

If we give up now,
[General Mu Yuan, Yanbei Black Eagle Army]

All our efforts will come to nothing.

Your Majesty,

Great Yong has already lost five cities
in succession.

And their strategist, Zhuge Yue,
has also died in Yanbei.

If we press them too hard,

I fear both sides will suffer in the end.

Even if we win, for Yanbei,
the cost will still be immense.

Your Majesty, please consider carefully.

Your Majesty, Miss Chu is awake.

Chu, you are awake.

Physician.

Quick, see how the Queen is.

All right.

Have you remembered anything?

How can she remember nothing at all?

The Queen's fever has not fully subsided yet.

She is not fully lucid either.
It may only be temporary.

But it could also be due to her injuries.

We'll only know all of this for certain
once she is fully conscious.

I remember...

you are the physician.

As for everything else...

I had a dream.

I dreamt I was in a frozen lake.

I was trapped beneath the ice.

I could not breathe.

Why, after three months,
has she only woken twice?

And each time, she was hardly lucid
and remembered nothing.

Your Majesty, do not distress yourself so.

After the Queen fell into the frozen lake,
she burned with fever.

Even now, the cold lodged in her body
has not fully left her.

Now that she can speak and move about freely,

it's already a mercy amid misfortune.

For now, rest and recovery must come first.

As for when she may recall the past,

you must not be too hasty.

Your Majesty might speak with the Queen
more often of the past.

That may help restore her memory.

You said I am the Queen?

Yes.

You are my betrothed Queen.

Before you fell into the frozen lake,

we were about to be married.

Married?

Come. I will show you something.

Chu.

This is the wedding dress
I had prepared for you.

You and I have faced life and death together.

We chose each other long ago.

Three months ago,

had those Great Yong curs
not seized the moment of our wedding,

and secretly entered our lands
to assassinate us both,

you would already be
the rightful Queen of Yanbei.

Great Yong.

Great Yong.

Chu, do you remember?

When I was young,

I was sent by force to Zhenhuang City
in Great Yong as a hostage.

That was where I met you, at Qingshan Court.

Later, when my family fell,

it was you who kept me alive.

Yan Shi Cheng, Marquis of Dingbei,
hoarded troops for his own ends,

defied Heaven and deceived the throne,
[Four Years Ago]

misled the common people

and secretly sent Yan troops
to stir rebellion across the land.

His treason was plain to all.
[Jiuyou Terrace, Zhenhuang City]

But our Emperor is wise.

Heaven has favoured him.

The rebellion in Yanbei is quelled.

The Yan traitor clan has been put down.

As Yan Xun was raised in Zhenhuang City
and took no part in the revolt,

he is hereby ordered to identify the heads
and thus earn pardon.

In Yanbei, the hereditary feudal prince

descended from the 24th generation
of Emperor Pei Luo,

enshrined as the 576th tablet
in the Chengguang Ancestral Temple

of Shengjin Palace.

Grand Marshal of the Northwest Army
of Great Yong

and Zhenxi King of Yanbei, Yan Shi Cheng,

was ex*cuted on the 14th day
of the fourth month at Huolei Plain

in Yanbei.

Zhuge Huai, I'll k*ll you!

Yan Ting,
eldest son of King Zhenxi of Yanbei...

Was ex*cuted on the 14th day
of the fourth month

at Xunlie Wall in Yanbei.

All names have been called.

Prince Yan, please inspect the condemned.

Receive the imperial decree.

Yan Xun, hurry up and accept the decree.

Go take a look at your father's
and brothers' severed heads.

Yan Xun, the son of a rebel,
defies the Emperor's decree.

Take him!

Yan Xun!

No!

Yan Xun, you fool.

Are you so eager for death?

There is no need to inspect further.

Arrest the criminal, Yan Xun.

Zhuge Yue.

The decree issued by Zhenhuang City
ordered him to inspect the remains.

How can you treat this so lightly?

If you proceed like this,

are you not afraid
His Majesty will blame you?

Whether I am blamed or not
is no concern of yours.

If you insist on saving him,

see if he will even accept it.

Guards!

Yanbei cur, I want you to watch...

your family burn to ashes.

Yan Xun, will you identify them or not?

Zhuge Huai! Zhuge Huai, I'll k*ll you!

I shall inspect them.

[Bai Sheng, Marquis of Dingbei's Wife]

My dear Xun Er.

Mother.

Xun Er.

Do not weep.

The children of the Yan family shed blood,
not tears.

Mother.

What truly happened?

Do you trust your father?

I do.

In this world,

not everything can be explained so simply.

Was it them?

Did they destroy Yanbei?

Xun Er.

Stand up.

I will identify the remains.

The ones up there are my husband,
my son, my daughter,

and my kin.

In all this world,

none is more worthy than I
to carry out this task.

His Majesty designated Yan Xun
to confirm the condemned's identity.

Do you mean to defy the imperial decree?

Guards, seize all who defy the Emperor.

The entire Yan family has fallen.

Why is Princess Yan the sole survivor?

His Majesty once issued a sacred edict.

So long as Princess Yan
stays within Zhenhuang City,

then no one may harm her in the least.

Zhuge Huai.

Are you defying the imperial decree as well?

I...

Stand down.

Mother.

This is my husband.

The hereditary feudal prince of Yanbei.

Prince of Yanbei, Yan Shi Cheng.

At the battle of Baima Pass,

a 300,000-strong army
marched through the pass.

Shi Cheng led his army out from Yanbei.

For seven days and nights, he neither
dismounted nor removed his arm our.

He led the charge
and saved Great Yong from peril.

Your Emperor swore it there and then

that Great Yong and Yanbei

would stand together for ages,
and never forsake each other.

Most of you here were there as well.

This is my son.

He was 21 years old.

He joined the army at 13.

He started as the lowest
rank-and-file soldier.

In eight years,
he repelled 67 full-scale attacks.

He won countless merits in battle.

On the 14th of the fourth month,
at Xunlie Wall,

he was trampled to death by horses.

This is my daughter.

On the 16th of the fourth month,

she rode out to save her mother
who was taken.

While passing by rivers,

she died amid the chaos of battle.

They were Yanbei's warriors!

Zhuge Huai.

Carry out the execution.

Execute!

No!

No!

Yan Xun!

Yan Xun!

Yan Xun! No!

No!

Please spare my son.

Mother.

Mother.

Mother.

Why are you doing this?

Father is gone.

My brother is gone too.

Everyone in our family is gone.

And now, even you are leaving me.

Xun... Xun Er.

Promise me.

You must stay alive.

Even if life becomes worse than death,

you must still stay alive.

Mother.

Yan Xun! Move aside!

You took that blade for me
without a thought for yourself.

From that moment on,
I swore I would never fail you.

Chu, you are the only Queen of Yanbei
I have ever chosen.

Let go.

Chu.

It does not matter if you cannot remember.

For me, the fact that you woke up is enough.

I will not force you to remember me
or to believe what I say.

I will wait for you...

until the day you remember.

Your Majesty.

Drink this.

You will soon feel better.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Zhuge Yue's body has been pulled out.

Lady Chu.

We are discussing how to deal with

the body of Great Yong's commander,
Zhuge Yue.

What is your view, Lady Chu?

He was a commander of Great Yong?

Yes.

A few months ago,
had he not led men into Yanbei in secret,

and set an ambush on Ximin Mountain
to k*ll you and His Majesty,

you would never have fallen
into that frozen lake.

How did he die?

He fell with you into the frozen lake
and died there.

This man was steeped in crime.

He was once your fiercest foe.

Back when you were still a sl*ve
in Great Yong,

you suffered at his hands again and again,
and endured his oppression.

Later, he kept blocking you and His Majesty
from returning to Yanbei

and crossed swords with you
more than once.

This Crushing Moon Sword never left his side.

It once matched blades with you, Lady Chu.

Do you remember this sword, Lady Chu?

Crushing Moon Sword?

For generations, the Zhuge family bought,
abused and k*lled sl*ve girls.

Your sisters, Xiao Qi and Xiao Ba,

your brother, Lin Xi,
all died at Zhuge Yue's hands.

And countless soldiers and people of Yanbei

also perished beneath this very sword.

After you escaped from Qingshan Court,

you swore with His Majesty
to end sl*very and w*r,

as well as k*ll your enemy
with your own hand.

Take a look, Lady Chu.

Can you still recognise
the face of this Yong cur?

After all, you were by his side
for so many years.

Then burn him.

Let this sword, together with this body,

serve as a tribute to the wronged souls
of the soldiers and civilians of Yanbei.

Lady Chu once stayed at Qingshan Court
with Zhuge Yue, day and night.

Enough.

Three months ago,
at the battle on the frozen lake,

had Chu and I not fought as one,

and battled the Yong army
with all our strength,

this Zhuge Yue, cunning as he was,
would never have been taken.

Even now,
he would still be Yanbei's greatest enemy.

Remember this.

Chu is a protector of the realm,
and the only Queen of Yanbei.

As for this sinner's corpse,
Yanbei wants no part of it.

Send him back to Great Yong's Zhuge family.

Protect the Queen!

Chu.

Chu.

Chu.

Chu.

Are you all right?

Have you remembered something?

I feel as though I know you.

But I cannot remember.

Why were those people trying to k*ll me?

What is really going on?

Chu.

Take your medicine first.

Your hand.

Chu, have you remembered something?

Your hand.

Why is it that when I see it,

I feel such sorrow?

Chu.

I knew our lives...

had long since become inseparable.

[Three Months Ago]
[Within the boundaries of Ximeng]

Do not go any farther.

Go any farther and you will be in Yanbei.

Not until we pass Ximin Mountain.

Here, you can find good game.

I have confirmed it.

He is indeed Zhuge Yue,
general of Great Yong.

Judging by where he was found,

he must have been carried
by the undercurrent below the lake

to the Ximin Mountain area.

He is gravely wounded,
and the cold has taken hold.

That he has lasted this long
is a miracle in itself.

[King of Ximeng]

But I fear he will not live.

A dead man is of little use, I should think.

[Qiu Lin, Left General of Ximeng]
Go.

Throw him back into the lake.

Did I say he was to die?

I do not understand.

What use is a dying man?

At times, the dead are more useful
than the living.

Especially him.

Give him Chegu Grass.

There is news from Yanbei.

These past few days, they too have been
searching for his whereabouts.

They said they want him alive,
or his corpse if dead.

There are plenty of condemned men
in the secret gaol.

Warriors, form ranks!

Why do I not wish to marry Yan Xun?

Once Great Yong withdraws,
in a few days' time,

His Majesty will marry her
and make her Queen of Yanbei.

So long as you are willing to wear
this wedding robe and marry me,

I will let her go.